The present invention relates to an eco-run control device and an eco-run control method for controlling a vehicle to perform eco-run.
In recent years, a vehicle performs eco-driving (hereinafter, also referred to as eco-run) including automatic stopping of the engine (for example, idling stop) in order to improve the gas mileage of the vehicle and to suppress exhaust gas emissions.
In this specification, it is assumed that “eco” means at least one of “economy” and “ecology”. Economy means fuel savings (reduction in fuel consumption) by suppressing fuel consumption. Ecology means suppressing fossil fuel consumption or suppressing the generation or emissions of harmful substances or carbon dioxide caused by combustion of fossil fuels.
A vehicle which performs such eco-run includes a detector which detects the state of the vehicle, and a control device which performs control of automatically stopping the engine when it is determined that predetermined stop conditions are satisfied on the basis of the state detected by the detector and which performs control of automatically starting the engine when it is determined that predetermined restart conditions are satisfied on the basis of the state detected by the detector. A specific example of the stop conditions includes a condition in which sufficient electric power to restart the engine is charged in the battery, and a specific example of the restart conditions includes a condition in which the exhaust temperature of the air-conditioner drops so that an increase in the engine water temperature by engine start-up is needed. Here, the amount of the sufficient electric power to restart the engine changes with an engine type of the vehicle, and the exhaust temperature for which the engine water temperature needs to be increased changes with a place where the vehicle is intended to be used or shipped (hereinafter, referred to as an intended place).
Patent Document 1 discloses a control device that detects the type of vehicle in which the engine to be controlled is mounted, and that controls the engine according to the detected type of the vehicle.
This control device includes a memory in which an AT (Automatic Transmission) vehicle control program for controlling an AT vehicle and an MT (Manual Transmission) vehicle control program for controlling an MT vehicle are stored. Moreover, the control device includes a control unit that controls an engine mounted in an AT vehicle according to the AT vehicle control program stored in the memory when a signal unique to the AT vehicle is input and that controls the engine according to the MT vehicle control program in other cases.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-4-224262
However, as the number of types of vehicle which perform eco-run increases, the number of types of control devices to be mounted in various vehicles also increases. This is because the engine stop conditions and the engine restart conditions which are used for determinations of control devices change with the type of vehicle. As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 5B, regarding vehicles which are to be shipped to two places, Japan and Europe, and in which two kinds of engines, diesel and gasoline engines, are mounted, it is necessary to develop, manufacture, and manage four kinds of control devices 500 to 800. For this reason, there has been a problem that the costs required for development, manufacturing, and management of control devices increase as the number of intended places of vehicles and the number of types of engines mounted in the vehicles increase.
Here, the control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 can control a plurality of types of vehicles with one kind of control device. However, if a signal unique to an AT vehicle is not input due to disconnection of wiring lines, for example, the control device executes a control program (i.e. MT vehicle control program) different from the AT vehicle control program even though the control device is mounted in an AT vehicle. Accordingly, there has been a problem that the control device may damage a vehicle or endanger an occupant in the vehicle by execution of a control corresponding to an incorrect vehicle type.